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The Great Canadian Food Adventure: Roasted cauliflower and potato soup

This time of year, I crave comfort food. It’s cold outside and all I want to do is stay in and watch episodes of Community or Bones on Netflix. And all I want to eat when it’s really cold out is soup. Soup, soup and more soup. I love soup. In fact, I’d say it’s probably my favourite food. Ever. I often dream of my mother’s homemade chicken soup. Or my grandmother’s noodle soup that we used to eat as kids. It is hands down the best food I’ve ever had. Ever. Creamy. Brothy. Spicy. I’ll take it anyway I can.

The other day, I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge that I had picked up at the market the week before. It was on the cusp of going bad, and I didn’t want to waste it. So my first thought was to turn it into a batch of creamy and delicious soup. I decided to add in a few potatoes to give the soup a bit more texture, and the finished product was delightful. A perfect — and simple — meal to make on a cold winter’s day.

Fun Fact of the Day: Orange cauliflower was developed right here in Canada. It was discovered in a farmer’s white cauliflower field about 30 years ago. Often called “Cheddar” cauliflower, it has elevated levels of beta carotene, and up to 25 times the amount of Vitamin A as its white cousin.

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

1 medium onion

6 medium potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp canola oil

salt and pepper

2 cups of vegetable broth

Method

Preheat oven to 400F.

Chop cauliflower into florets.

Chop onion into a medium dice.

Scrub, peel and roughly chop potatoes.

Toss cauliflower, onion and potatoes in an ovenproof dish. Coat with oils, and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked and cauliflower is slightly tinged on the tips.

Remove from oven. Let cool. Then using a hand blender, or in a food processor, puree vegetables with broth, adding in liquid half-a-cup at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to add additional seasoning if you like. I generally like a little spice (cayenne) and paprika. But I know it’s not to everyone’s liking.

Enjoy

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Paolo Zinatelli is a writer for Spectator Tribune. Follow him at: @paoloz5